Mark Dip
from Canada writes:
With an unemployment rate four times the national average, the spouses of Canadian government employees serving overseas lose over $1 million per year from being forced to pay for EI overseas while being ineligible for benefits. The way it goes is that spouses quit their jobs to accompany their partner, but are still forced to pay EI premiums overseas because CRA defines them as Canadian “Factual Residents” due to diplomatic status, but then they later get their EI social benefits revoked afterward because HRSDC says they’re not “Residents in Canada”. This administrative Catch-22 also extends to disallowing these spouses from being able to claim education expenses on their taxes – even if they take Canadian courses from overseas. This also happens to non-government spouses whose residency is classified this way by CRA. Who’s to guess we’ll be shut out once again on this EI retraining initiative?

Prof M H Settelen
from Merrickville, Canada writes:
Truly wonderful that the Chief Engineer of Via is to have $407M to finally electrify the Ottawa-Montreal-Torontocore so that we shall no longer be embarrassed to receiveour Swiss, French, German, Italian, British & Scandinavianvisitors on a less than 21st Century rail system, here in thewealthiest per capita Country in the G8! Pip, pip.

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